


The Sky's The Limit

by ladysilvrene



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Sky Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-02-28 07:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladysilvrene/pseuds/ladysilvrene
Summary: When Tony was younger, he could tell when people genuinely wanted to be his friend (which wasn't often, even though he was often surrounded by people who wanted his attention.) But as he grows older, he builds bonds even stronger than he ever though possible - strong enough to stand up to the biggest threat he's ever known.





	1. Lonely Sky

**Author's Note:**

> This is purely self-indulgent, to try and give Tony the love and family I feel like he needs and deserves.

When Tony was little, it seemed like everyone he met wanted to be his friend- but he could always tell that their motives weren't genuine. Sometimes it was something they'd decided for themselves; other times, their parents had encouraged it; but whenever he socialized with a group of people long enough, he found himself at the center- surrounded, and yet so completely alone.

 

The first person he'd genuinely been able to call a friend had been Edwin Jarvis. It didn't matter that the man was his father's butler - he bandaged Tony's hurts, encouraged his curiosity, asked him about his day, and always did it out of love for Tony himself. And though they got less frequent as he got older, whenever Tony hugged Jarvis, the love felt _as warm as the sun_.

 

He didn't make any other real friends until MIT. The only thing that made his separation from Jarvis easier and soothed that pain, was his second true friend: James Rhodes. He didn't care about Tony's money or influence, didn't patronize him for his youth or take advantage of him for his genius; he truly just wanted to be Tony's friend. And the best way that he demonstrated that, over and over, was by always being by Tony's side. Tony and Rhodey had a language all their own, and whenever someone else didn't understand but needed to, Rhodey never expected Tony to slow down or back up or explain again, and instead was able to smooth over the misunderstanding himself.

And when Tony's mother and father and Jarvis died, Rhodey was a rock, supporting Tony, and _washing away the worst of the hurt_ until he could function again.

 

He'd been surprised to be confronted in the elevator by the tall redhead from Accounting, but found her outrage at the fact that, when she found discrepancies, her direct supervisors had advised her to cover it up, _electrifying_. From the beginning, she'd been loyal to the company she worked for, enough that her sense of justice led her to find a way to bring these issues to the attention of somebody who could either take action independently, or prove to her that her loyalty was unwarranted and give her the impetus to leave.

Instead, he made her his personal assistant, keeping her close and rewarding her as best as he could, and he knew that she would stubbornly protect him from any threat he faced - even himself.

 

When he woke up in Afghanistan with the battery in his chest, he hadn't quite known what to make of the doctor that had treated him. But when Tony made his final escape, and he found Dr Yinsen dying, telling him not to waste his life, the friendship _warmed_ his heart. His rage at not being able to protect the doctor, and determination not to die for nothing, drove him forward into the desert. Sand had always seemed yellow or white or tan before, but as he was finally found and he allowed himself to collapse, he could swear that it was _orange_ at the corner of his vision.

 

When he met Natalie Rushman, he was intrigued. It was like there were two of her at once, layered on top of each other, and he simultaneously felt genuine and hidden motives from her, which he'd never felt before. When she'd taken him by surprise and injected him with the Lithium Dioxide that bought him some time to fix his arc reactor, and she'd revealed herself as Natasha Romanoff, he expected that that feeling of _illusion_ would have dissipated; instead, if anything, it grew stronger.

 

He knew he shouldn't be attempting to antagonize Bruce, but couldn't resist poking a little bit of fun. From the moment he'd walked onto the bridge of the helicarrier with everyone else, he could tell that Bruce was practically overflowing with the capacity to destroy, and yet kept himself centered, the _eye of his own storm_. Watching him unleash that destruction, after having had such a productive time working with the man in the lab, just made Tony feel even more awe at the ease with which Bruce handled himself from day to day.

 

Meeting Steve had been especially strange. He'd shone so bright with self-assuredness that Tony had rankled, not believing anyone could be as ideologically pure as all that - and yet he kept seeking Steve out, again and again, trying to connect with him. He could see, from the way that Steve interacted with those he considered his friends, that a true friendship with that man could be _as warm as the sun_ ; but that warmth dissipated into the open sky.

 

He really enjoyed meeting Thor. He wasn't sure if it was that Thor was an Asgardian, or something else, but it was comforting to interact with someone who, in spite of his impulsive nature, resonated on a lower, slower frequency than he was used to. Somehow, it seemed especially fitting that the demigod's hammer seemed to operate under its own unique _gravity_.

 

Working together after the Battle of New York provided a number of opportunities to interact with Clint, and he admired the way the sniper seemed to _drift_ to strategic point after strategic point - always where he needed to be, always able to observe as much of the overall battlefield as possible. But whenever he'd tried giving Clint overtures of friendship and camaraderie, the archer would smile and then drift away.

 

It caused him so much pain when Bruce had vanished after the incident with Ultron, but even with how far away he'd gone, Tony could still feel him next to his heart, the man standing in the eye of the _storm_. In contrast, when Steve had gone off to Siberia with Bucky, and Natasha had switched sides to give them the time they needed to escape, something snapped between them, and even though he could tell she was there, illusions layered on top of themselves, he no longer felt like he could see between the _illusions_ to her true self.

 

When he finally caught up with Steve and Bucky in Siberia, it was surprising how easily he fell in sync with them. Steve's single-minded obsession with his childhood friend had softened upon spending time with the man, and Tony almost hurt to see Steve directing those _sunny smiles_ at someone else - but when Bucky was surprised, he would flash a smile of his own, like a beam of _sun peeking out through the rain_. But then came the security footage, and knowing that Steve had never truly valued him as a friend, and the pain that came with that knowledge, and he lashed out before he could stop himself - and then found himself fighting just to stay alive.

When Steve and Bucky finally left, as his arc reactor powered down and Friday unavailable, he could feel his determination and will to live _glowing like orange fire_ as he made his way back home again.

 

After the pain of watching Steve, Natasha, and Clint walk away from him, Tony had tried to isolate himself, limiting himself just to his friendships with Pepper and Rhodey and, so far away he could barely feel it (but it was still there) Bruce, but the kid had wormed his way into Tony's heart. He would be working on a project, and the thought would _drift_ across his mind that maybe this would be something he could show to Peter, but he resisted, trying to spare both himself and Peter from the pain that couldn't seem to leave him alone. But then he saw Peter come into his own, stand tall and free, and he welcomed that connection.

 

It was surprising to be contacted by T'Challa and his younger sister Shuri about his BARF technology; before he'd actually met the man, he would have expected that Wakanda lacked even the basic infrastructure necessary to operate it; and after meeting him, and learning how advanced the country was in its isolation, he would have expected that they'd developed something superior themselves. Instead, with how small and isolated the advanced country was, they hadn't run into brainwashing before on the level that had been inflicted on James Buchanan Barnes - and so Tony had given them all the information they needed. The letter he'd later received from Bucky, expressing his gratitude, especially under the painful circumstances between them, had been a complete surprise, and the tentative friendship it initiated warmed him like _sunshine chasing away the rain_.

 

Then Thanos sends his 'Black Order' to retrieve the Infinity Stones left on Earth, and Tony finds himself fighting beside a wizard in a cape, who he'd known what seemed to be a lifetime ago as a justifiably arrogant neurosurgeon. In some ways, the man now reminded him of Natasha - but instead of seeming like a person made of illusion layered upon illusion, he was centered and genuine within himself, and Tony could see the way that enhanced Stephen's mystical capabilities. Stephen Strange was a man that would use _misdirection, illusion, and deception_ to defend against the threats he faced - but who would never again turn those skills upon his own sense of self.

 

It filled his heart with sorrow to fight beside Bruce and see his calm, balance center shattered. No longer was he the _eye of the storm_ ; instead, it was buried and hidden under fear. The joy he felt at seeing his friend, who had been literal light years away for so long, was dampened by that sorrow, and he wished he had the time to help Bruce, to tell him to strut and to help the man find the balance of the eye of the storm again, but there wasn't time, so he gave the man the Hulkbuster armor, and when it seemed to help - not a lot, but enough - he was able to follow the wizard onto the spaceship; nobody should have to face that situation alone.

 

It seemed that the kid had the same idea, following him onto the spaceship, and he was so mad and scared that this person who had become so precious to him would be in so much danger, but at the same time he was glad, so glad, to feel the strength of the connection he'd forged with Peter, so close.

And then they were on another planet, and more people show up, and everyone is terrified of Thanos, and Dr. Strange is subdued as he contemplates the only victory he was able to see, dreading what comes next-

But then Thanos comes, and Tony can see the infinity stones in the gauntlet, and he sees the orange stone and it's the same color he's come to associate with his own stubbornness and determination, and he knows what's at stake and what he can't afford to lose, and instead of the plan they'd all agreed on he rushes to face Thanos alone-

But he can feel his friends with him, and somehow he can put names to what he feels - Rhodey's _Rain_ , Pepper's _Lightning_ , Bruce's _Storm_ , Bucky's _Sun_ , Peter's _Cloud_ , and Stephen's _Mist_ \- and it's like he's surrounded by a rainbow of fire, and the orange Soul Stone on Thanos' gauntlet shines brighter and together they take Thanos down.

As he collapses, he sees the shock on Peter and Stephen's faces, sees Peter glowing with purple fire and Stephen with indigo, and he closes his eyes, secure in the knowledge that they were safe.


	2. False Sky

It was a proper medical mystery that Steve Rogers hadn't died before he'd had the chance to plead his case with Dr. Erskine. The man had, as a boy, been inflicted with so many ailments and deficiencies that anyone else would have been. But Steve was determined to live- to fight- to win- and whenever things were at their worst, he'd close his eyes, and imagine the golden warmth of the sun, and with a deep breath he'd be feeling just a bit better.

 

But that golden sunshine he felt within himself ran too hot sometimes, and he'd find himself in fights against people taller and stronger and sturdier than he- and only Bucky seemed able to soothe his aggressive temper (and that of his opponents).

 

On the day he was set to participate in Project Rebirth, Steve was anxious, but he drew on his sunny determination to get him through. It was only as he was being strapped into the machine that he regretted not telling Bucky anything.

The pain was intense, and as it built, he could sense bright yellow energy surrounding him, getting stronger and sharper and deeper, and when the machine finally stopped, it felt like it had settled into a richer copper hue.

When he stepped out from the machine, Agent Carter was in front of him, shorter than him, and he was so pleased at how mesmerized she was by his new appearance. The control she exuded only heightened his perception that she was dangerous enough to destroy the world - that it was only still running on her recognizance.

 

Selling war bonds isn't his idea of a good time, but he gets more confident with each performance, and people listen, and for a while it feels like maybe he's contributing to the war effort... But then he's in Europe with the 107th, in his gaudy costume and false cheer, and he sees the men before him with souls torn asunder by war.

Colonel Phillips is the one to tell him that Bucky's unit had been captured, and his heart stopped, and it was like he could feel the sky growing colder around him. But he's able to get Peggy's attention, and he knows she can tell how important this is to him, and she helps him get to the base where Bucky is being held.

Seeing Bucky strapped down on that table makes his blood run even colder, but then his best friend wakes up, and as the two of them lead the POWs back to the Allied lines, the hope in his chest feels like sun peeking out from behind the rain.

And then it's gone again as Bucky falls from the train, and Steve feels like the sun will never shine again.

He crashes a plane loaded with ordnance into the Atlantic, and expects to die, and wakes up to a world completely different from anything he ever knew.

 

Natasha reminded him of Peggy in that she was beautiful, competent, and deadly, but the similarities seemed to end there. Where Peggy remained firmly grounded in her sense of self, Natasha seemed to be whichever version of herself seemed best suited for the moment. He knew he might never see her completely clearly - but wanted to build the chance to try.

 

He admired Dr Banner's intelligence, but knowing that the man had been trying to duplicate the Super Soldier Serum from Project Rebirth - and knowing not just that it failed, but how it failed - terrified him. Dr Erskine had posited that the character of the patient determined the result of the serum, so he tried not to get too close, because he didn't want to see the monster that lay behind human eyes.

 

Tony was larger than life, and it irritated him to no end. Even as he could see that Tony was trying to reach out and be friends - or at least colleagues - with him, part of him craved being the other man's guiding light, but another part of him rejected that thought entirely. His warring natures within himself directly reflected the way he antagonized Tony, but at least he was able to relax enough to work with the man.

 

Though Clint had been compromised when the mission began, Steve found the man easy to work with once the mind control had been disrupted. Knowing the man was watching his back from above left Steve free to focus his attention on saving New York.

 

In Washington, he went running to try and calm the anxiety churning in his head about living 'in the future'. At first, it didn't work - but then he found that every time he passed Sam with an "On your left", his mind got just the slightest bit clearer.

He'd thought the sunshine in his heart was gone, but when the mask fell, revealing a face he knew all too well, it felt like that sunshine had just been obscured by rain and sleet, that cleared once Bucky had met his gaze. After the Helicarriers fell, he held on tight to that warm feeling of sunshine, as assurance that his best friend was still out there.

 

He'd met Wanda a few times on the battlefield - suffered the nightmare she gave him, taunting him with the memory of the dance he missed with Peggy - but when they're fighting on the same side against Ultron and his Iron Legion, he sees her burn with the destructive rage of a storm. The pain and loss in her heart calls to his own, and though he clearly remembers that it hadn't been that long since she'd been wielding that destructive power against them, he welcomes her onto the team. Strangely, it makes him feel like he's the one who has finally come home.

 

For years, he contented himself with the knowledge that Bucky was alive, warm and safe in his heart, but when Bucky is implicated in the very public death of the King of Wakanda, he's desperate to keep his friend safe. Between this, and the way Tony continues to rub him in exactly the wrong way, he snaps. Every time he thinks he's gotten Bucky to safety, something else stands in his way, until they're all at the airport, and he's fighting against people he once called his friends, but he has his family beside him - Clint, Bucky, Sam - who brought Scott - and Wanda. As he and Bucky flee, leaving the rest of his family behind, he can hear Natasha running interference for them, switching sides of the conflict - and Steve finally feels complete.

 

It was a surprise when Tony showed up in Siberia, and the weight of his knowledge burned low in his gut, but he can see Tony and Bucky getting along and he doesn't want to mess with it. But then Zemo runs that tape, and he keeps trying to protect Bucky, to cover for Bucky, the way Bucky had done for him, only it's all going wrong and Tony's face is anguished as he lashes out. It's only as he's leaving with Bucky, down an arm and a vibranium shield, that he realizes how lucky he was that Tony hadn't actually been fighting to kill - but he shakes off that thought as he and Bucky seek asylum in Wakanda.

 

They break the others out of the Raft, and for a while all of them are comfortable in Wakanda. Bucky had gone into cryostasis briefly, but the country's top engineers had found a way to fix the brainwashing, and Bucky was now able to spend time with the rest of them - but over time he grew more and more distant, until he revealed that he didn't agree with what they'd done to Stark, that it was a disproportionate response on their side considering the trauma Stark had just re-experienced and the betrayal that came from being lied to, especially since the man hadn't used lethal force. And the more Steve tried to defend his position, the more Bucky withdrew, until Steve could no longer feel sunshine in his heart.

Scott's the next to leave, and they hadn't had that strong a bond in the first place, but it still pains Steve to feel the hole where that electric strength had once been.

Clint and Natasha leave around the same time, followed shortly by Wanda, until only Sam is left; Sam who reminds him of Bucky, back when the two of them were smaller and he hadn't taken the serum.

 

When the aliens rain down from space to collect the Infinity Stones, Steve is somehow less surprised than he should be that his determination to live seems to have gone back to its original pale yellow. Somehow, this helps him rebuild that battlefield camaraderie with Bucky - it will never be the same as it was, but they know how to fight side by side.  
When Thanos retrieves the target stone and leaves to find that last piece, Steve takes advantage of the moment of peace to breathe. He can't do anything more to help.  
Bucky's sharp inhale beside him makes him look up - only to stare in awe at the bright yellow flames surrounding his friend. Dr Banner, in the Hulkbuster armor, is wreathed in red flames, and Tony's best friend Rhodey is surrounded by blue. The light show lasts for a minute or two, but as the insubstantial flames die down, the expression on Bucky's face changes to one of anguish. Over the comms, he can hear Dr Banner and Rhodey in pain as well, and he knows if Ms Potts had been around, she too would have felt whatever they were feeling - whatever was happening with Tony Stark.

When he asks Bucky what happened, he's told "Tony Stark just saved the Universe. I helped. But I can't feel him anymore."


	3. To the Edge of the Horizon

**_Bucky_ **

Steve always seemed like he burned too hot and too bright, and so he tried to balance that out, protecting his best friend and soothing tempers. It was a shock to see him, after months apart, to find he'd changed - not just in height and muscle, but in that he no longer shone like the sun. He missed that bright light, so Bucky tried to shine for Steve, since he couldn't do it for himself - but then he fell from the train and everything

seemed

to

stop.

 

When he finally woke up, it was by looking at the Smithsonian Exhibit about Captain America, and seeing his own face, and the face of the man he'd been fighting with so recently. That face struck a note within him, but it seemed sour.

 

The fight at the airport felt wrong somehow, like the focal point was in the wrong place, but he ignored it - until he and Steve and Tony Stark, who seemed oddly familiar, were in Siberia preparing to fight off five more Winter Soldiers. He was just starting to figure out what the issue was when the footage was shown, and he was horrified at what he'd done, at what Steve had kept from a man Steve had said was his friend.

The resulting fight with Tony left him feeling sick to his stomach, even as the other man removed ~~his~~ HYDRA's prosthetic arm, and it was a relief to go back under cryostasis.

When he was let back out of the cryostasis pod, everything felt clearer and sharper - including the fact that, while he loved Steve, he couldn't be tied so close to him. And when he found out that Tony Stark was the one who had provided the technology that fixed his mind, in spite of all the bad blood between them, he knew he wanted to earn Tony's forgiveness.

  
On the battlefield, after Thanos left, he was suddenly surrounded with a glow, the warm yellow of sunshine, and it was almost as though he was in two places at once, Earth and Titan, standing next to Tony and lending him his strength. There were others too - a whole rainbow of power - and it felt like home. But as the glow around him faded, so did that sense of Tony in his heart that he hadn't even realized was there - that had been there since he'd thanked Tony for his role in his recovery.

  
It took everything he had to speak calmly when Steve asked what happened.

 

**_Rhodey_ **

Every time the scrappy little genius that was his roommate looked at him like he hung the stars, he wanted to smother every person before him that hadn't valued Tony for himself. He might have started MIT as a teenager - and a young one at that - but Tony was bright, and loyal, and so much more than his family's name and his father's money. He swore to be at Tony's side, encouraging some of his bad decisions but reining in the worst of them, for as long as he'd have him.

 

When Tony was lost in Afghanistan, he was surprised to be so certain that Tony Stark was still alive - there'd been no trace of the man, no ransom video, no evidence he still lived. But he continued to fight for a presence in Afghanistan, and the relief he felt when they finally found his friend almost overwhelmed him.

 

He'd noticed Tony trying to collect more friends - it had always been so hard for him to build genuine friendships - but the deception inherent in the SHIELD agents gave him pause. Meeting Bruce, though, made him feel like he and Pepper were no longer alone in keeping their idiot alive and well: Bruce was nigh indestructible, fiercely loyal, and for all that he had an alter ego filled with rage, he seemed to be a calming influence on Tony.

 

When the aliens came to Earth for the Infinity Stones, Rhodey could feel it when Tony left. The only thing that kept him grounded was the certainty he had that Tony was not alone. And when he was surrounded by a powerful blue glow, he knew it was Tony, and he gave all that he had to whatever ridiculous plan Tony had, hoping it would be enough to keep his best friend alive and well.

 

**_Pepper_ **

She'd run into a mechanic in the elevator after she'd failed, yet again, to get her supervisors to acknowledge the discrepancies she'd found, and she found herself ranting at him. When he asked questions, she showed him the reports she compiled without a thought. At the time, she'd thought it was someone being nice and letting her feel like she hadn't done all that work for nothing - but then a couple days later she'd been promoted to be Tony Stark's PA, and when she showed up, it was the mechanic, just dressed in a suit for a board meeting he'd skipped. She let him continue to believe that she'd tracked him down on purpose, though.

 

The more time she spent with him, the more she wanted to support and protect him, above and beyond her employment contract - but the sense of security she felt in her heart in return was worth every aggravating moment.

 

They'd been on the phone when Tony saw the aliens, and then he'd left the planet on a spaceship, and she couldn't even sit back and watch because she had to handle the company and its people - Tony's people - and so she kept working and coordinating until she was taken by surprise by the feeling of Tony's strength and determination. The entire board meeting stared on in shock as she was surrounded by green flames - which seemed completely out of character given the characteristic red flames of Extremis - but she knew that somehow, she was helping save the universe.

When the green flames died down, she was more determined than ever to keep the company stable long enough so that she could hunt Tony down for being so reckless. After all, more than anything, Tony needed to be protected from himself.

 

**_Natasha_ **

When SHIELD sent her to Stark Industries to fill a vacancy that was too close to Iron Man to pass up, she didn't expect the man himself to be so perceptive. And yet, even though she could tell he knew she never showed her true face, she trusted Tony - as much as she trusted anyone. But she found her loyalties pulled back and forth between him and Steve, and when the time came, she made the choice that seemed like it would give her the best home.

Watching as the people closest to Tony lit up with power for him, to help him save the world, she felt the gnawing emptiness of her mistake all the more clearly.

 

**_Bruce_ **

Though the Hulk hadn't become part of him until he was an adult, he'd always had a bit of a temper, had always been a bit impulsive. When he was younger, he laid the blame for this on anything but himself - his abusive father, his mother's death, being passed around in foster care. And because he never took any responsibility for it himself, he felt perfectly fine allowing the storm to rage.

The Hulk was what made him face his own flaws. He had a temper- and now, if he didn't control it, that temper would overwhelm him and take on its own personality and destroy everything in his path. Given his pattern throughout his life, though, it made sense that he would treat the Hulk as completely separate from himself.

Being zapped on the Helicarrier - by someone who showed no fear, who didn't shy away from touch or collaboration or dissent or experience- was the wakeup call he needed. His temper would always be a part of him- and so would the Hulk. There was no way to get rid of either- so he needed to embrace the fact that he and the Hulk would be roomates in his head for the foreseeable future.

Coming to this realization didn't resolve everything- he still Hulked out unintentionally sometimes when surprised and hurt- but it was the first step, and he'd never forget that Tony was the one who put him on that path.

And then came Thanos.

The worst part of being on the battlefield, in his opinion, was what came after. Looking for the dead and injured, cataloging the damage dealt, kicking himself for the ways he could have done better. It was almost a relief to find himself surrounded with red flames, connecting to Tony far away on Titan, and he tried to project how grateful he was to Tony through that connection.

If he had his own way, he'd disintegrate any obstacles in Tony's path, whatever the cost.

  
**_Clint_ **

Cognitive recalibration was fine and all, but the sense of something being off persisted through the battle with the Chitauri, and he couldn't put a finger on it until they were all sitting together, eating shawarma.

Even after reading Nat's report, and already feeling a certain measure of disdain for the man that couldn't go two weeks without making the front page of the tabloids, something about Tony was trying to call him home.

Once he realized what was going on, he retreated, unwilling to forge a connection with someone he couldn't even respect properly. And when he started feeling that same connection to Steve, he embraced it warmly, feeling that Phil would have done the same. And time and time again, it seemed that his choice was proven right, that Tony would just crowd him and Steve would let him be himself.

On the farm with his family, he wasn't aware of the desperate battle for the fate of the universe that waged on planet after planet, including his own.

  
**_Peter_ **

Tony Stark had only ever allowed one interview with him to be filmed in his lab, and Peter watched it relentlessly. Some people still called the man the Merchant of Death, but Peter adored seeing the full scope of what Mr Stark could create- from his voice interactive assistant, to the helper robots, to the hologram-interactive work table.

So when his parents got tickets to see the Stark Expo, he was beyond excited.

Facing off against one of the Hammerdrones with the Iron Man mask and gauntlet made perfect sense at the time, but looking back, he could tell that he owed his life to Iron Man's intervention.

  
His desire to follow in Mr Stark's footsteps was what led to him becoming Spider-Man, ironically enough. Over the summer after his freshman year of high school, he attended a summer STEM program, with the knowledge that at least one of the instructors was a faculty member at MIT. That program did a lot of trips to facilities all around New York with revolutionary research in various branches of STEM, including the bioengineering facility hoping to come up with alternatives to organ transplants, among other things. Getting bitten by that spider scared him, and his lack of control over his strength scared him more - but Tony Stark was the one who helped him come to terms with it and start swinging through New York as a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, when the iconic press conference showed up in his facebook feed: "The truth is... I am Iron Man."

He never thought it would lead to being asked on a mission to Germany, of all places, by the man himself, but he was more than glad to lend a helping hand (especially considering the upgrade Mr Stark provided). And months later, when he saw the spaceships bearing down on the Earth, and saw Iron Man fighting against aliens, he stuffed all of his shock and fright down for the moment to go and help. If the enemies kept getting bigger and stronger and smarter and more numerous, well - he'd just keep getting smarter and stronger and more capable.

When Thanos arrives on Titan, even knowing that they'd brainstormed some kind of plan did nothing to alleviate the terror he felt. Something was going to happen, he could feel it, and he couldn't do anything about it-

And then the orange stone on Thanos' gauntlet glowed orange

And Mr Stark was surrounded with orange flames

And he was surrounded by purple flames! And he could feel the intense paternal pride that- that Tony felt for him, like those flames were holding him in a hug, a real hug, not the kind that Tony frequently passed off as something else, and when he feels Tony asking for his help, he sends as much of the purple fire as he could, pleading for it to be enough, for it to make all of the other flames at Tony's disposal bigger and stronger.

And it works, and Thanos goes down

And then so

does

Tony

And it's all Peter can do not to scream in horror as the rainbow of flames winks out.

 

**_Stephen_ **

They'd known each other for years, from a distance. They would frequently show up at the same charity functions, and Tony would drink and flirt and treat it like a party, and he would stay just long enough that it was only slightly rude that he'd left early. The truly interesting thing to him was that, even all those years ago, he'd been able to tell that Tony's behavior came from the same root as his own: attending these functions as a tradeoff for being able to work on the things that made them feel alive, without interference from other people.

He was a neurosurgeon, and he was the best. Sometimes, it was like he had another sense that allowed him to see into the brain of the patient, so that he always knew exactly what he had to do. And on those rare occasions it seemed like he might have gotten in over his head, he'd put the tools down, and stand next to the patient with his hands loose, and just let himself feel the desperation and resolve he needed in order to continue.

Once he'd done that, everything else went smoothly.

The shock of losing his hands drove him to more and more desperation, but he could never summon up the matching resolve, and he knew, somehow, that it was that failing within himself that stood in the way of his recovery the most.

  
Kamar-Taj was eye opening, in more ways than one. And it was here - with an off-hand comment from the Ancient One that 'he'd already been using Mist flames to support his surgeries, so surely the techniques being demonstrated to him couldn't be too far beyond his capabilities', that he started to realize what he'd been doing all along.

Kaecilius, and the fight with Dormammu, and becoming Sorceror Supreme all in short order, put his studies on these various subjects on hold, but once he had everything settled, he set himself to learning as much as he could about these "Mist flames".

Which was why, when he stepped out of the Sanctum to defend his planet from the aliens descending from the sky, he was able to tell pretty much immediately that Tony Stark was a rare and powerful Sky- and it was how he could tell that the two of them had Harmonized by the time the ship had landed on Titan.

Pragmatically, he still intended to follow the desperate plan he'd helped put together, despite knowing what was at risk- but then Tony did something completely unexpected, pulling on all six flames from his Harmonized guardians, and rendered Stephen speechless.

Thanos collapsed, and so did Tony.

As the man who was his Sky crumbled, he rushed to his side, feeling an emptiness where only moments before he'd felt that connection to this man he'd known from a distance for years. His cloak helped to soften Tony's fall, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he was able to find a pulse. Tony was unconscious and mostly unresponsive, but he was alive, and that was better than he'd been able to hope and plan for.

Beckoning the child to his side, he used his Sling Ring to create a portal back to Earth and, bidding a farewell to the Guardians of the Galaxy, he and Peter took Tony home.

  
**_Tony_ **

If he was being completely honest with himself, he hadn't expected to wake up from that. He'd used everything he had to offer- everything that he'd been given- and for all that Steve still opined that he wasn't one to make the sacrifice play, he'd done it with both eyes open.

He woke up slowly, in stages. The first thing he could feel, was that he was warm, like being wrapped in sheets fresh out of the dryer. After that, in the back of his mind, he could feel a riot of color- and knew those were the people he'd connected with over the years.

He opened his eyes, expecting to see the six of them around him- but found only one other person in the hospital room with him, Peter, half curled up in a chair and half draped on his hospital bed with him.

Before he could press the call button, though, the door to his room opened, and his other guardians filed in from the hall. Pepper was the last one in the room, and he could see a crackle of green in her eyes as she shut the door on Steve and Natasha.

Bucky Barnes had his hand on Rhodey's back, and he could practically feel the yellow glow encouraging the broken spine to heal. Bruce and Stephen were still talking to each other about their respective fields of science as they came to a stop next to him.

These people had chosen him, had supported him, had connected with him on the deepest level he could conceive of, and he rejoiced in the knowledge that he'd never have to save the world alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> This started because I had a momentary thought that Tony kind of seemed like a Sky, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I tried to write it so that people who didn't really know anything about KHR could still possibly appreciate it.


End file.
